The Secret and the Pain
by Kellyn
Summary: A ficlet following the end of "The Three Faces of Phoebe", where Phoebe finds out why Cole has been acting so weird.


"Is there something you're not telling me? About you?" Phoebe asked, shifting slightly on her bed. "Something I don't know?"  
  
Cole slowly approached her, sat on the bed and looked deep into her eyes. "No," he said, and that was all Phoebe need to lean forward and wrap her arms around him. He instinctively put his arm around her and looked up at the mirror. His other arm wrapped around her and he saw his eyes flame slightly.   
  
He jerked back a little and Phoebe pulled away from him. She looked at him with a strange expression. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
His eyes darted quickly, but Phoebe had not noticed. "No, no.. I guess I'm still a little, uh.. shocked at what's happened lately."  
  
"Me too," she said, picking up her hand and touched the right side of his face and smiled, her eyes gleaming. "But, think about it. We're getting married... finally."  
  
"Yeah," he said and forced a slight smile.  
  
Phoebe got up from her bed and put the hair behind her ears and smoothed out the creases on her pants. She bit her lip and smiled. "I'll be right back. I just need to get something to drink." She looked at him one last time before she exited.  
  
-----  
  
Shutting off the faucet, Phoebe took a sip of the water, as she looked around at the various utensils in front of her. Suddenly, a sharp pain rippled through her side and she clutched her stomach. "What was that?" she asked herself silently. "Definitely not a premonition... weird." As the pain subsided, she shrugged it off and put the glass in the sink.  
  
When she turned around, Cole was leaned against the island, supporting himself with one hand and she immediately yelped in surprise. Cole smiled at her. "Didn't mean to scare you."  
  
Embarassed, Phoebe laughed off her stupidity at screaming at her soon-to-be husband. "Oh, no.. I wasn't scared," she said with a smirk on her face, trying to cover up her tracks. "I was, uh... just testing my vocal cords. See.. do, re, mi-- "   
  
He cut her off. "I know you're afraid of me."  
  
Phoebe stopped and looked up at him. "What?" She was obviously confused, and Cole could see it.  
  
"Oh, you knew that you thought something bad was going to happen to me," he said, his tone of voice nothing like Cole's. "Well, Phoebe. It's happened."  
  
Phoebe's eyes widened. "What's happened? Cole.. you promised me you'd tell me if anything was wrong... clearly something is wrong, so spill."  
  
Cole propped himself upright. "Clear. I like that word," he said in a sadistic voice. "You know, that's how I feel right now. The pain has died. I've let him take over."  
  
"Let who take over? Cole, what is happening."  
  
"The Source."  
  
"The Source? But we killed him."  
  
"And he's killed me."  
  
Phoebe stopped everything that she was doing and looked at his eyes. They were no longer that beautiful shade of blue she loved. They were black.. everything was black.  
  
"Cole, you can fight it! You did before... with Belthazor."  
  
"Belthazor is dead!" he screamed. "And stop calling me Cole!" He lifted up his hand, and with the flick of the wrist, a fireball was formed. He held it, moving his other hand over it to make it the right size and shape.  
  
Phoebe wanted to scream, scream like she had before, but nothing came out. Cole, or whatever he was, was moving towards her, the lethal fireball in his hand. With one move of his hand, she could be on fire. Flaming, dying... something her heart was slowly doing.   
  
Inch by inch he moved, until he dropped to his knees and the fireball suddendly disappeared. He sat, kneeling with his arms on his legs trying to support himself as his head laid low. Phoebe yelled his name and rushed to his side. He slowly looked up, his face a mess. Cole's eyes were back to normal, but he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.  
  
"Oh my God! What just happened?" Phoebe asked him.  
  
He took a deep, coarse breath. Did it hurt that much for him to breathe? Phoebe thought. She picked her hands up and cupped his face and kissed him. He kissed back. They slowly picked themselves up, as they kept kissing and groping each other. Cole started walking, not breaking the kiss and pushed Phoebe against the refridgerator.  
  
Phoebe felt the pain in her back, but dismissed it as she ran her fingers through Cole's hair. His kisses became harder as he pushed himself against her, enough for her not to breathe. She started struggling and fighting against him but he was too strong.   
  
Cole moved his hand away from them and an athame appeared in a puff of mist. Phoebe's eyes targeted the athame as he pulled away from her and went to drive it into her chest. Within a split second, Phoebe's hands moved infront of her and caught the blade. Her hands stung as the knife cut into her flesh, but she fought it and kicked Cole in his stomach to push him away.   
  
As Cole stumbled back, the athame dropped to the ground and Phoebe scrambled to pick it up. She recovered it quickly just as Cole had started to rush forward to grab it.  
  
"Give that to me!" he growled.  
  
"Yeah, like I'm going to give it you," she said as she held it tightly out in front of her in a defensive stance.  
  
Cole looked down at the athame in her hand. "You know you can't kill him."  
  
"You don't get it, do you?! Piper, Paige and I vanquished the Source.. you're gone! Kaput! Done!"  
  
"I didn't mean the Source."  
  
Phoebe slouched a little, noticably not as willing to fight as before. She thought a moment and straightened herself out. She hesitated, "I-if it's what I have to do... then I'll do it." She put on a straight and determined face and then ran forward and stabbed Cole through the stomach with the athame as hard as she could.  
  
He stumbled back, his face contorted into a visage of pain. He slowly grabbed the athame out of his stomach, wincing in pain... and then he started to laugh. Wickedly. "Do you really think a mere witch like you can stop me? Stop us? You're not a Charmed One without your sisters, and as I see it, they won't be living for much longer.." He noticed the hurt look on Phoebe's face. He could see her breaking down, inside and out. "Oh, don't worry. He fought, you know. He wasn't strong enough though. He thought his love would save him. In all my years, I've never seen love win..."  
  
The demon that wore Cole's face approached Phoebe, who was slowly slinking back to the refridgerator. The forces of evil and the armies of hell followed the demon as he advanced, and then darkness came.  
  
------  
  
Phoebe suddenly jolted awake in a cold sweat. She felt her head and then her side; she was fine. She closed her eyes for a moment, realizing that it was all a dream. Cole's arms were wrapped protectively around her, even as she rolled over to look at him. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked a few times.  
  
"Honey, why are you up?" he asked. He noticed her distressed look. "Are you okay?"  
  
She nodded slowly. "Uh.. yeah.. I just had a nightmare."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"It was terrible.. I-- and you--," she managed to get out, then stopped herself. "I'd rather not talk about it."  
  
"That's understandable," he said and smiled slightly. "... but you're okay?"  
  
"Are you?" she asked.  
  
"Of course. As long as you are, I am."  
  
"That's good to know," she said and leaned forward and kissed him. "Goodnight." She rolled back over and made herself comfortable to sleep, her back facing Cole.  
  
He slowly stroked her hair as she fell to sleep.  
  
"Goodnight, my love," he said as his eyes flamed and his lips curled into a vicious grin. 


End file.
